


Jalec Week 2015

by ganseys_mint_plant



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Jalec Week 2015, M/M, Shadowhunters - Freeform, Slash, jalec - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-02
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-24 09:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4914319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ganseys_mint_plant/pseuds/ganseys_mint_plant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of One-Shots for Jalec Week 2015!<br/>Note: I've never written Jalec before so any feedback would be awesome!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1: Castle of Cloth

**Author's Note:**

> October 1st- Fluff  
> October 2nd- Angst  
> October 3rd- Someone Changes Species  
> October 4th- Declaration of Love  
> October 5th- Use the line "that sounds fake but ok"  
> October 6th- Aesthetics  
> October 7th- AU! Day

**Fluffity fluff fluffness**

"Jace?" 

Alec hated the attic with a passion. It was an endless maze of creepy artifacts and the trinkets of his grandparents, now long gone. Boxes towered high above him, even though he was tall for his age. Something rustled across the attic, near the single window that let in a sliver of daylight. 

Alec pulled his witchlight closer to his chest. He was momentarily shocked by the black rune on his arm. It's presence was permanent now but he was still getting used to seeing it every time he lifted his hand.

"Jace, it's Alec," he called again. "I just wanted to check on you."

Again, silence.

"I know you're up here," Alec shouted. "I saw you come up here."

Alexander couldn't understand how someone like Jace could want to be so terribly alone. He liked peace and quiet just as much as the next person but Jace had lost everything and his voice had gone with it. 

But something drew him to the blond boy. It was the way he occasionally smiled or bumped into Alec as they walked along, because he was constantly staring at his feet as if he didn't deserve to look at the world around him. And Alec wanted nothing more than to make him smile more and lift his head up a little more so Alec could see his face, hidden behind messy hair that could  _almost_  rival Alec's own mop.

"No one else is with me," Alec said, continuing his path through the attic. "It's just me."

He put his hand farther out so the light casted against more of the objects. Old rocking chairs. A sword encased in glass. A box marked "Starkweather." An sofa older than Alec's parents, missing the cushions. White sheets draped over what appeared to be art. Rolled up carpets. And at the very end of the hall, a long stretch of overlapping blankets and quilts, sticking up in random places. A set of golden eyes peered out of the entrance.

"Jace," Alec smiled.

"You found me," he said, stubbornly.

"You can't hide forever," Alec said. "The Institute isn't  _that_ big."

"I'll just move my fort somewhere else."

"Like where?" Alec challenged, crossing his arms. Jace frowned, glancing back inside his castle of cloth. 

Alec dropped his arms on second thought. "I won't tell anyone."

"Promise?" Jace asked.

Alec crossed his heart.

"Can I come in then?" 

"No," Jace said. "It's not ready yet."

He turned around and a blanket fell, covering the place he had once been.

Alec frowned but didn't say anything. He wouldn't push Jace but he wouldn't just end this either. Now his compassion for Jace's brokenness was coupled with curiosity. What was inside the fort?

He turned back around, marching back through the maze, this time with a lot less fear and a lot more to think about.

........

Alec sat in silence through lunch, as Isabelle chattered away about her pen-pal, Aline, talking animatedly with her hands. His mother's eyes searched around the room for Jace, as if he were just hiding in one of the cupboards. This was the third meal he'd missed this week and the ones he did attend, he rarely ate at.

"Can I have another sandwich?" Alec asked suddenly, cutting Isabelle off. She shot him a nasty look as Maryse rose to make him another sandwich. 

Alec took the sandwich to go, saying he was going to picnic in the greenhouse. He snagged a glass of orange juice as his mom cleaned up lunch.

Then he grabbed the backpack of stuff he had packed before lunch, after his visit to the attic. He climbed the stairs and threw open the door. This time, he didn't announce his presence or call out. 

He just walked down the aisle until he reached the door to the fort.

"I'm back," Alec said. He lifted the blanket door slightly, sliding the sandwich wrapped in paper towel and glass into the fort. "You won't have the energy to build without something to eat."

He heard the scrambling of someone crawling on their hands and knees. 

"And Hodge said your Latin infinitive translations were kinda bad. So I'm just gonna read our Latin book. You don't have to listen," Alec said, pulling the thick book out of his backpack, flipping to the verb grammar chapter. "Okay 'Infinitives do not have person and they are translated to ' _to.'_ The Present Infinitive is the second principal part as in  _portare_  (to carry) or  _regere_  (to rule). The present passive infinitive is formed by dropping the -e from the second principal part of the verb and adding -i so  _portari_. The third conjugation is the exception to the rule. In the third conjugation, drop the entire infinitive ending and add -i (regere becomes regi).It is translated to be ....-ed: portari = to (infinitive part) be (passive voice) carried (definition);  so regi means to (infinitive) be (passive voice) ruled (definition)--' Jace?"

"Yes?" Alec smiled a little. So he  _was_ listening.

"Do you know what infinitives are?"

"Yes," Jace said. "My father taught me."

"Do you want me to stop reading?"

"No."

"Okay," Alec said, turning the page. "'The perfect active infinitive is formed by adding -isse to the perfect stem, for example, portav- becomes portavisse. . .'"

......

At some point in time, Alec fell asleep, his head resting on the backpack. Someone had thrown a dusty blanket over the top of him and left a stiff paper card in his hand.

Alec opened it to the inside. Written in the unmistakable handwritten of a little boy was 'You are hereby invited to Jace Wayland's first sleepover in his very secretive fort. This invitation serves as admittance for one person, who, should he attend, sworn to secrecy and should not tell anyone (especially Mrs. Maryse and Mr. Robert) about the location or contents of the fort. Arrive at the Attic of the Institute, New York, New York, exactly 23 minutes after bedtime. Yours sincerely, Mr. Jace Wayland, Lord of the Attic Fort."

Alec sat up, rubbing the back of his head.

He'd never been invited to a sleepover before.

........

Alec didn't like anything that involved sneaking around. But tonight was different. He had repacked his backpack with the sorts of stuff he assumed one brought to a sleepover.

The attic was much creepier when it was completely dark. The fort glowed at the end of the row and Alec ran this time, trying to escape the ghosts that haunted the objects beside him. He knocked on a box beside the fort. Jace opened the flap almost immediately. He held up an old clock, staring at it intently.

"Right on time," he said. "I like you."

Alec smiled. 

"Come in," Jace said. Alec dropped to his hands and knees, crawling inside. The fort stretched on and on, held up by chairs and the occasional bookshelf. The floors were covered in rugs that looked like they had been shaken out recently. Bookshelves were stocked with books. A thicker pile of blankets and pillows lay in one corner. Witchlights sat on all the seats of the chairs, making the fort bright. 

"I'm working on raising the ceiling," Jace said. "But at the moment, this is the best I can do."

The best he could do was good enough. You couldn't stand but Alec could sit straight up, and his head wouldn't hit the top. 

"This is awesome," Alec mused.

"I don't know what to do at a sleepover," Jace said. 

"Me either," Alec said. 

"Could you read to me again?" Jace asked. "I mean, I know  _how_ to read. I just kinda liked it when you did it."

Alec nodded and followed Jace over to the pile of blankets. Alec had brought his own pillow and tossed it out, opening the Latin book again and turning to a random passage.

"'The Story of Cincinnatus: Primis annis rei publicae, Cincinnato consule, magna altercatio inter patres et plebem evenit. Causa erat pecunia, qua paene tota plebs premebatur. Plebs auxilium a consulibus petivit, sed id non accepit. Tandem plebs ad Sacrum Montem secessit; patribus sola spes erat in concordia civium, et consilium ceperunt . Plebi creare suos magistratos, appellatos tribunos, permiserunt--' Jace?"

There was a steady snoring coming from beside Alec. Jace's head was resting slightly against Alec's arm. 

Alec slowly slid away then crawled around the fort, dimming all of the witchlights. 

Then he returned to Jace's side, observing the rising and falling of his chest for a moment.

On impulse alone, he pressed a kiss to Jace's smooth forehead. Just a quick one, like the ones his mom gave him before bed. 

"Goodnight, Jace Wayland," Alec sighed, covering himself with the same blankets that covered his brother. 

**_Disclaimer_ : Latin passages/grammatical terms taken from the FVS Latin II course because I wrote a nasty review on their class and now they're out to get me in any way possible. **


	2. Day 2: Bloody Chair

**Angst and canon divergence.**

Jace raised his hand to knock on the door but thought better of it for some reason. Maybe it was best he just went on with his life. But his  _parabatai_ rune was stinging like it never had before. He knew the pain wasn't any sort of physical type-- Alec was fine-- but it was emotional. 

He leaned his forehead against the dark door. The lights in the hall were out, all the doors shut.

Behind the door next door, Isabelle was sleeping and beyond her, Max. Across the hall from Max was Jace and Clary was using the guest room next to his. 

And Clary was the problem. 

Clary was the reason he was standing outside Alec's room feeling like the world was crashing around him. 

Instead of knocking, he opened the door slowly and silently. 

"Alec?" Jace asked, softly, taking a step in. He shut the door behind him and the light in the room grew a little bit brighter.

"Jace, please, go," Alec's exhausted voice said. 

"We should talk," Jace said, turning to face his best friend, his brother, his--

"I can't," Alec said, standing up out of the chair he had been curled up in, a chair made in the 20s. The Lightwoods belonging to the Roaring Twenties generation had got it from a vampire raid. There was a speck of blood near the base of the black fabric chair. Jace said it gave it character, the blood appropriate decor for a Shadowhunter's room. Alec said it creeped him out and the only reason he didn't remove it was because he didn't want to risk staining the chair with chemicals. So Alec used it for reading most nights and crying on the others. 

"Please," Jace begged again.

"I think you said what you had to say."

" _I didn't say anything_!" Jace snapped. "I didn't-- I didn't get the chance to defend myself."

"What can you say to make this better?" Alec asked, shrugging his long arms helplessly. They were encased in a soft knit sweater that went on even past his fingertips. 

"I can tell you--" Jace stopped. He couldn't say anything and actually mean it. Because kissing Clary was not like kissing Alec. 

With Alec there was no sense of necessity or urgency; it was lazy and Jace didn't like lazy. He wanted energy, fervency, passion and Clary was all of that. And he could never say it aloud but Clary was the safe option in more ways than one. Alec was a thousand different combinations of dangerous. Alec could ruin the Shadowhunter legacy he fantasized about leaving. 

Jace sat on the edge of Alec's bed, still watching Alec.

"You can't," Alec said, completing his thoughts. "I'd just rather have you admit you're done with me."

"Alec, I'm never-- You and I are--"

"But never like you and Clary," Alec said. "Don't pretend. You know what love is. And you know you're in love with her."

"I don't want to cast you aside," Jace said, wringing his hands together, as if whatever they had could just be expelled from him like water out of a towel. 

"Whatever," Alec said, crossing his arms.

"I thought you and Magnus Bane--"

"Please," Alec laughed. "It's bad enough being gay and in love with my  _parabatai_ and you want me to add a warlock into my love life? Jace, just go."

"I don't like this," Jace said.

"We'll just do what we always do: wake up in the morning and act like nothing happen." Alec smiled horribly. "Get out."

That was a slap to the face. Alec was rarely sharp with Jace unless he had done something incredibly stupid or risked his life. 

So he pushed himself off the bed, staring down Alec. He was getting no satisfaction from this like he got from other conversations. This just hurt.

He took a step closer Alec. He could still make this right. . . He had to make this right. . . 

"I'm sorry," Jace said, putting a hand on Alec's face.

"Sorry that it didn't work or sorry that you hurt me?" Alec asked. 

"Both," Jace said, as if it were obvious. 

"Why her?" Alec asked. 

"You don't care," Jace said.

"I do care," Alec said, stepping away. Jace's arm fell to his side. "I want to know what you see in her. I want to know what about her makes you smile so damn much. And I want to know why you ever got the notion that kissing her would be okay!"

"We were never really official."

"Official?" Alec laughed. "Jace, neither of us were about to come out to our parents, let alone make it 'official.'"

"You could have told me--"

"What? That I wanted the deeper emotional connection to rather than the occasional hook up when one of us felt like it? How would that conversation have gone?"

"Awkwardly. . ." Jace trailed off.

"And it's just a joke to you," Alec said. "As always."

"Are you officially kicking me out?"

"I'm officially ending our unofficial relationship," Alec said, nodding. "And so now you have no reason to be in my room."

Jace wanted to step forward and kiss Alec until the other boy realized how sorry Jace really was. 

But he knew better. 

So he walked out, a stain on his heart like the blood on the chair. 

 


	3. Day 3: Bite

**Species change**

_Kiss me on the mouth and set me free_   
_Sing me like a choir_   
_I can be the subject of your dreams_   
_Your sickening desire_   
_Don't you want to see a man up close?_   
_A phoenix in the fire_

Alec pulled the leather jacket a little tighter around himself, slightly cold and very nervous. It wasn't every night the Dumort was open to those other than the Night's Children. But they had decided to host a party. An invite was easy to snag when you were sneaking around with the clan's golden boy. 

Light poured out of the Dumort like the windows were vomiting rainbows of color. Alec felt for the card in his pocket. A line ran around the block, most of them probably vampire subjugates, waiting to see their masters. They disgusted Alec but in his own way, he was one of them. Only Jace wasn't after his blood.

He skipped the line, handing the bouncer his invitation and slipping inside. The music was heavy instrumentals and the bass threatened to shatter his ribcage. He found a staircase and started climbing anyways, watching his steps. Most people seemed to have crowded on the first floor anyways. 

He was about halfway up when he lifted his eyes to find Jace standing on the next landing, watching him expectantly. Alec stood up a little straight and tried to fight the smile coming to his lips. 

Jace beckoned him forward, his lips moving but the sound lost to the music. He disappeared down a corridor and Alec moved a little faster to keep up. He barely caught a glimpse of Jace as he rounded each corner. Standing in a doorframe of an abandoned room was a faerie couple, sipping their drinks, watching him hurry by disgustedly.

He didn't care what they thought. He didn't care what any of them thought.

It was exactly what it looked like.

_So kiss me on the mouth and set me free_   
_But please don't bite_

Jace caught Alec in his arms as soon as he rounded the corner. He tangled his fingers in Alec's hair, determined to ruin it to the point of hideousness tonight. He tried every night and failed. Alexander Lightwood was incapable of flaws with the exception of his species. 

It was horribly unfortunate to fall in love with a Shadowhunter. Someone made sure to remind him of that every day. But it was hard to see the end when the present was incredibly clear.

Alec pulled back a little bit, trying to catch his breath. Jace pulled a little tighter on his hair, urging him back. Their lips collided again and this time Jace pulled them out of the hallway and into his modest room.

Immortality had instilled a desire for wealth and beauty in Jace yet. He was relatively young but young meant new and the vampires liked new things to look at.

Jace liked to look at Alec. Even in the darkness of the room he could make out most of Alec's handsome features. 

His head struck the wall as Alec pushed him back against it. The walls were fragile and it wasn't uncommon for some of the lower vampires to have windows into one another rooms. Everyone was prone to violent streaks and walls were often the victims. But the wall didn't break beneath him. 

Alec's fingers ably undid the buttons on Jace's shirt. 

He sighed, enjoying the flames running through his body.

Until it was a different kind of pain, less pleasurable, more demanding.

"Alec--" Jace gasped, trying to escape Alec's touch. He was overwhelmed with sensory overload. He leaned back, trying to dull the roar in his head. He twisted his legs with Alec's, turning him so Jace was facing the wall now, pressing the kisses against Alec's neck. It helped clear his mind a little. 

Jace was in love with the way the blood rushed just under Alec's veins, pulsing faster with every ticking second. Blood--

_You can coax the cold right out of me_   
_Drape me in your warmth_   
_The rapture in the dark puts me at ease_   
_The blind eye of the storm_   
_Let's go for a walk down Easy Street_   
_Where you can be reborn_

The next kiss hurt more than the rest and made him fall into Jace a little more than he should have. 

It hurt because Jace was digging razor sharp incisors into his neck. He relaxed a little more. What was the harm in just a little big longer?

Alec pushed Jace away with more force than he had intended. The teeth tore free and Jace went stumbling back, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

"Go," Alec ordered, pressing a hand to his neck.

"Are you--"

"I'm fine," Alec said, pulling his hand away. He'd heal just fine with an  _iratze_. "Please go take care of whatever you need to do."

Alec fell onto Jace's bed as the door squealed shut.

_And kiss me on the mouth and set me free_   
_But please, don't bite_

"Alec?" Jace asked, standing over the Shadowhunter boy. He felt sharper now that there was blood in his system. Alec opened his eyes. They were slightly greyed with the poison in his system, dulling his senses.

Alec stared up at him, sighing shakily.

"I'm so sorry," Jace said.

"I know you can't help it," Alec said. "But there is no way in hell I'm become one of those zombie subjugates. I'm not. I'm not going to get addicted and I'm not going to push my luck. You have to keep yourself in check--"

"I slipped up," Jace said. "I just forgot. I got caught up."

"I'm going home," Alec said.

"Alec--"

"I'm not feeling good, Jace." He sat up and Jace stumbled back.

"Just call me when you get home, okay?"

"Okay," Alec agreed, already at the door.

_Aah, I'm pulling on your heart to push my luck_   
_Aah, cause who's got any time for growin' up?_   
_Kiss me on the mouth... bite_   
_Kiss me on the mouth... bite_

The phone rang in the middle of the night, sending shock waves of pain through his head.

Only, it wasn't night-- the blackout curtains were just drawn tight. Jace let it ring for a moment more before finding his phone in the darkness, answering with a groggy hello.

"Get up," Lily hissed.

"Lil, you are literally downstairs," Jace said, rolling back into the pillows.

"The Nephilim want to meet with you--"

"What?"

"I should rephrase that-- the Nephilim want a vampire representative and I'm sending you. Get up." The line went dead.

Jace wasn't one for subjecting to authority but Lily was vicious and he liked his head intact.

........

Jace arrived in the Sanctuary a little after dusk. Night had been closer than he originally though. He didn't bother knocking. He just walked in. His mind feared the worst.

The female epitome of Alec was waiting for him.

"And you are?" she asked curtly.

"You're awfully rude," Jace pointed out. How Alec could be related to her was beyond him.

She crossed her arms, staring at him defiantly.

"Okay," Jace ceded. "Jace."

"Last name?"

"Hot-one."

"Ah, funny." She frowned. "We have a bit of a problem--"

"I assumed."

"Our brother disappeared two nights ago and he's been sick ever since. The symptoms are consistent with vampirism."

He-- Jace replayed the night in his mind. He hadn't fed on Alec long enough-- He hadn't--

"Well, uh, there's not much you can do," Jace stuttered.

Alec would be one of them now and that thrilled the dark part of Jace-- but he'd lose his Shadowhunter identity, his pride.

"I need to try anything," she said. Alec had to remain a Shadowhunter. Jace couldn't force him into his world.

"If the symptoms truly are what you think they are, then I've heard stories-- only stories-- that drinking holy water can purge the system of the poison."

 _Poison_ _I gave him,_ he thought.

_Kiss me on the mouth and set me free_   
_Sing me like a choir_   
_I can be the subject of your dreams_   
_Your sickening desire_   
_Don't you wanna see a man up close_   
_A phoenix in the fire_

"He's not entirely conscious enough to be drinking," Isabelle said. 

"IV line?" Jace suggested.

"We--" She started mumbling out options to herself.

"Can I stay?"

"What?"

"I'd like to stay," Jace said.

"You-- Why?" Isabelle asked.

"I'd just like to," Jace said.

_So kiss me on the mouth and set me free_   
_But please don't bite_

Jace fell asleep as the sun began to rise outside. He was on a wooden bench, inscribed with runes.

A shaking hand woke him up though.

Jace opened an eye sleepily. Alec was watching him.

"Hi."

"Oh--" Jace sat up, looking around the Sanctuary. It was deserted. Alec was crouched on the ground beside him.

"We're alone," Alec promised.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm better," Alec said. "I have to drink a gallon of holy water an hour according to Isabelle. Who said she heard that from a vampire who was in the Sanctuary."

"I never specified how much--"

"Well that's what she's decided," Alec said. "It hurts like hell."

"Then that's a good sign," Jace said. "You know, relatively speaking; you know what it is--"

"Yeah," Alec said.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Not at you," Alec said. "I'm frustrated. I'm tired. My body hurts. I'm mad that this happened and-- I--"

Alec fell silent, something heavy reflecting in his eyes.

"And I have to end things with you," Alec said. 

Jace was frozen.

"I apologized--"

"It's not about what happened last night," Alec said. "It's about everything, Jace. It's the fact that this can't work."

"Alec," Jace sighed. "Alec, please--"

"I can't keep sneaking out," Alec started. "I can't keep lying. I can't come home in the middle of turning--"

Jace's mind thought at thousand miles per hour, trying to find a way to fix everything.

He kissed Alec, cutting him off mid-sentence. 

Alec gave a sad whimper from underneath Jace but he didn't stop.

"Jace," Alec whispered, pressing his cheek against Jace's. "Jace, I love you but I can't."

"And I can't leave you alone," Jace said. "I'd spend every single day and night on this bench-- this incredibly uncomfortable bench-- to even see you for a second every day. You can't just leave me. I won't let you."

"I don't want to keep hiding," Alec said.

"I'll make it worth it for you."

**Song: "Bite" by Troye Sivan.**


	4. Day 4: More Than Just Parabatai

**Confession of love; pre-canon**

Jace needed the quiet that the rest of the Institute wasn't giving. It was nearly midnight and his parents were still hosting a party downstairs. 

Alec, the only person worth talking to, had gone missing hours earlier and the party guests had grown stale with the hour. 

The familiar sound of arrows sailing through the air came from behind the closed door of the training room.

Jace entered the training room, light on his feet. 

Alec stood at the far end of the room, a bow cocked with three arrows.

Alec squared up his shoulders. Jace watched his breaths, even.

It would shock him immensely if Alec actually managed to land all three of those arrows on the target.

He let them fly, only one of them making it to the target, the other two falling short. Alec didn't stop, pulling them out one by one out of the quiver, now hitting dead center. He kept going, rapid-fire until his fingers found only empty air in the quiver.

Then he dropped the bow, chest heaving as if he had starved himself of oxygen during the entire process. He pulled two seraph blades from his belt, breathing their names as he charged at two dummies, slicing across the chest of one and decapitating the other with a spin move that made even Jace jealous. He dropped the swords and pulled a knife. He turned around, raising it to just past his ear.

"What are you doing in here?" Alec asked, not dropping the knife.

"I was getting away from the party. . . And what are you doing?"

"Practicing," Alec said, finally lowering his arm.

"At midnight? A little late."

"Jace. . ." Alec sighed, exhaustedly. 

"I'm just saying!" Jace said. "You don't want to practice at 6 am but midnight works for you?"

"I'm going to kill you if you continue speaking," Alec said. 

"I'm faster than your knife," Jace said. 

"We're not playing knife tag."

"Then what are we doing?" Jace asked. 

"You were leaving," Alec said, defiantly. He crossed his arms, knife still dangling between his fingertips.

"Oh, no, I was asking what you were doing," Jace said, jumping back to his original question. "Why are you practicing this late?"

"Clearing my mind."

"Of what?" Jace pushed.

"Stop asking me questions!" Alec shouted. 

"I'm trying to figure out what's wrong," Jace said, calmly. 

Alec dropped the knife, the point landing in the wooden baseboards.

"I hate pretending to be someone I'm not."

"What are you talking about?" Jace asked. This was coming out of nowhere. . .

"I'm talking about people discussing my future like I'm not a part of it. They want to ship me off to some other Institute and they want me to get married and they want me to come back here and run this Institute and they want me to have kids who will inherit the Institute and--" Alec turned his back to Jace, letting his arms fall to his side.

Jace walked to him, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Alec. They can't separate us. We're parabatai. Where you're going, I'm going. That's the first thing you have to know," Jace said. Alec turned his face away from Jace. "No one can force you to do anything you don't want to do, Alec. I won't let them."

"I-- I can't live up to their expectations," Alec said.

"Come on," Jace said. "Think of where we could go-- Madrid, Tokyo, Dubai! And you can find yourself a beautiful girl and settle down. Alec, we're living the dream!"

"I can't," Alec said, looking back at Jace.

"What?"

"I can't get married to 'a beautiful girl.'"

Jace tensed up for a moment.

"Alec-- Did you just-- Did you come out to me?"

Alec ducked his head momentarily.

"I suppose."

"I don't really care," Jace said. "I mean, I care, but I'm indifferent, Alec. I don't love you any less-- Angel-- Alec, you can't possibly think I'd disown you over your sexuality. You're still Alexander Lightwood, the same awkward black-haired boy I fell in love with years ago."

Alec was silent. 

"Oh," he finally said.

"Oh?" Jace laughed. "So you were trying to fire three arrows at once because you're upset that no one knows you're gay?"

"Jace, please don't say it so loud," Alec begged.

"I'm sorry," Jace said. "But I don't think it would be the end of the world if you told your parents."

"I'm not ready," Alec said. 

"Okay, okay," Jace said, holding his hands up. "Look, we'll cross all your bridges when we get to them."

Alec frowned. 

"I want a carbon copy of you," he said. "Because you understand."

"You don't need a copy of me. You have me," Jace said. 

"I meant--" 

"You mean what?"

"I shouldn't--"

"What?"

"Jace."

"Alec!"

"Just admit it," Jace said.

"I-- I won't," Alec said.

"Tell me," Jace said. Alec put on his best sympathy-invoking eyes. "No. Tell me. Tell me you love me. As more than just your parabatai."

Alec squeezed his eyes shut and never got the chance to open them before he felt Jace's lips on his. They were rougher than Alec would have expected because they looked so soft from a distance. But in reality they were chapped in some spots. Alec was hesitant where Jace was confident. 

Jace's hand was pressed against the back of Alec's neck, pulling him forward. Jace made a pleased sound at the back of his throat. And Alec's sorrows melted away. He poured his soul into this kiss, hoping that it wouldn't be his last.

Alec tore himself away from Jace.

"Jace," Alec sighed. "What did we just do?"


	5. Day 5: Weddings.

**"That sounds fake but ok." This is brOTP Jalec because I'm Malec trash.**

"You can't marry her."

It sounded like a voice in his dream but it was too real and concrete and passionate to be his mind playing tricks on him.

So he opened his eyes, locking eyes with Jace.

"What are you doing in here?" Alec asked. 

"I'm stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life."

Alec shook his head, rolling back over. He'd had this debate with himself for the last year. And now there was nothing he could do. He resigned to that fact weeks ago when he could no longer be a puppet in the affairs of his parents.

"Please let me sleep," Alec said, as Jace put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back.

"No," Jace said. The blankets tore off Alec. The air at night was colder, an unexplainable fact.

"Jace--" Alec warned, sitting up. 

"I really thought you would have stopped it all by now," Jace said. "I thought you'd be smarter than this. But I can feel what you're feeling right now."

"No," Alec said. "You can't. You don't understand."

"I understand you don't love Lydia as much as you pretend to. I understand that you're confused. I understand that you're being forced. I understand that you will never be truly happy if you're with her."

"There are ways around that," Alec said. 

"You can't get around me," Jace said. "And if you march down that aisle tomorrow, I will object."

"You wouldn't--"

"I would," Jace said. 

"I can be happy with her--"

"That sounds fake but okay," Jace said, rolling his eyes. "It doesn't matter, Alec. You're not marrying her tomorrow. I've decided that. Now you get to decide how to end it."

"You're being a complete and utter--"

"I'm being your best friend!" Jace shouted. "I'm doing what's best for you! I know you think you have to try and stop me because you-- you're so delusional at this point that you don't even know what you really feel!"

"Watch yourself," Alec hissed.

"No," Jace challenged. "You're gay, Alec. I've seen it since the moment I met you. Which means you cannot be attracted to Lydia. Which means you are damning yourself by fooling that girl into thinking she loves you."

Alec was going to be sick. His stomach churned and twisted with pain. If Jace knew, who else knew? Who else was going to allow him to get married tomorrow, despite knowing his secret?

Jace was right but there was no politically correct way to jump out of a marriage the night before. If it were a sinking boat, Alec had decided to stay on board a long time ago. 

"Now," Jace sighed. "Am I going to object or are you going to tell Lydia?"

........

"I can't marry you."

Lydia crossed her arms, her eyes empty and full at the same time. Empty of any life, full of malice.

"Alexander Lightwood. . ." She shook her head. "You ass."

Alec turned his face away. He deserved this.

She stepped up to him, grabbing his chin and turning it back towards her.

"Tell me you don't mean that," Lydia begged.

"I can't."

"Why? Why are you doing this?"

"I can't-- I don't know how to explain it," Alec said.

Her eyes remained firm and demanding. He owed her answers.

"I'm gay," he said.

Then she slapped him.

Alec staggered away with the force of the blow.

"How could you lie to me? How could you lie to yourself? Did you really think you would be able to go the rest of your life with me? By the Angel, Alexander, you could have hurt so many people-- You have hurt them! Me first of all! And you! How could you deny yourself love? Because you were afraid of coming out? What were you so afraid of?"

"I could lose everyone. Everything," Alec said.

"Your family does not deserve you if they can't accept the fact that you're gay," she snapped. "I hate you so much right now. I hate people that lie to themselves. I told you that once. You knew that."

"I--"

"You don't get to speak!" Lydia shouted. It was nearly three in the morning and she was going to wake the entire Institute with her voice. 

Alec let his arms dangle at his side.

"Go find the man you're really in love with," Lydia said.

"How do you even know there's someone?" Alec countered.

"Because you had to be thinking of someone every time you kissed me."

.......

Alec knocked on Magnus' door. The front door to the apartment building had been left unlocked so he didn't have to buzz. 

Magnus would never have let him get this far.

The door flew open immediately.

"You'd be stupid to think that I don't have wards around this place letting me know when Nephilim are in the area," Magnus said. "What are you doing here? It's nearly 5 am."

Alec was frozen. Most of his planning had consisted on getting to this point. But he hadn't actually pictured this conversation.

It had been almost five years. What could you say?

Alec crossed the threshold. He had come this far-- ending the marriage, getting yelled at by Lydia, and sneaking out of the house-- and he was feeling pretty reckless.

He slid his hand behind Magnus' neck and rose on his toes just a little to kiss Magnus.

Magnus hesitated, stumbling back for just a moment for planting his feet on the floor and his hands on the small of Alec's back. 

This was what felt familiar-- not Lydia's fingers intertwined with his, not Jace telling him he was an idiot, not his parents telling him what to do. He felt made for Magnus. 

Alec caught Magnus' lower lip between his teeth, and Magnus let out a shuttering sigh, dragging Alec towards his room. Alec knew the steps and made them with his eyes closed, a smile playing on his lips. He was getting his life back and it wasn't blowing up in his face.

Magnus shut the door as he pushed Alec ahead of him.

"Wait," Magnus said, his voice barely a whisper. "Alexander, what are you doing here? You're getting married in just a few hours."

"The wedding is off," Alec said, finding Magnus in the dark. He put his hands on Magnus' chest, trying to appease him. "And how did you know about it?"

"I hear things," Magnus said. "And Isabelle sent me an invitation with 'You better object' written at the bottom."

"She-- Of course," Alec said, letting his forehead fall against Magnus' shoulder. "By the Angel, Magnus, I'm so sorry I wasted all that time. So so sorry."

Magnus would forgive him.


End file.
